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Monday, March 29, 2010

The Javascript Grid Editor rolls on

Alternate title:  "XML is an unforgiving master"

So, it was pointed out to me just moments ago that I had not properly capitalized the "S" in the attribute "JavaScript" on my tutorial for installing/configuring the newly released Javascript Grid Editor project.  This apparently lead to some troubles with installation among users, and was very helpfully identified by Matthew Tan.  [EDIT:  I've found other errors with my example... which should thoroughly teach me to spend more time reviewing my example code from here on out; thanks again to Matthew.]

To whom may have been affected:  please accept my apologies.  As an excuse, all I can offer is that I put the instructions together by hand in a hurried fashion (I was quite excited), and though I double-checked the instructions, I failed to double-check the schema.

The interest for this project has been widespread and I'm continually surprised to see the different countries from which I have received positive response.  Though there is very little about it in the current documentation, the Javascript Grid Editor is designed to handle multilingual CRM environments--to an extent.  I must revisit the assembly of time-based controls (DateTime, Duration) for situations outside of my "1033" locale, but the labeling of those controls, and of JGE's buttons does conform to user-specified locale configurations.

I was floored to have received a very flattering review from Matt Wittemann, whose blog I have visited several times for solutions to my own CRM deployment.  There was never a doubt in my mind about the need for such a grid-editing utility within CRM, and with as many other solutions that were available to achieve it I never suspected mine would be popular outside of a tight circle of enthusiasts (especially considering some of the limitations present in this early version of the project).  Matt's acknowledgments and praise were very encouraging.

Matt also touched upon idea that the code could be deployed to CRM Online, where no alternative is available.  I find this irreversibly tantalizing.  Personally, I have no access or ability to operate my code in a CRM Online environment, so I hope that you, the community, will help me test its capabilities in that area.

Stay tuned...

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Thanks to Javascript Grid Editor adopters!

I just wanted to drop a quick note to thank all of those who have implemented my Javascript Grid Editor project.  Furthermore, with additional eyes on the project I've been able to identify and correct a couple of bugs.  The version has been updated to 1.0.2 to reflect the changes.  Big thanks to those who have kept me in the loop about problems they've had so we can resolve these things.

As for those of you who would be interested in knowing the next move for this project, I have a handful of features that I'd like to add in short order.  The first of which, will be the ability to validate input for required fields.

It's a bit of a pain that the fields don't perform input validation right now (i.e. verifying a value exists), and it could be considered a bug, but I honestly hadn't intended to include that functionality in the initial release, since I figured the platform would throw the appropriate errors.  This has turned out to be an incorrect assumption on my part when it comes to Business Required attributes.  So, expect to see a feature release in the near future to include this.  Apologies to all who are affected by this.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Introducing the Javascript Grid Editor

I’m very happy to announce the project that kept me away from the CRM Developer forums for several months is now ready for the public.  The Javascript Grid Editor has been setup in a repository on GitHub, and available for general download and use under a Creative Commons license.  See the Javascript Grid Editor page for details.

If you ever wished that you could modify or add records through a CRM grid, today is your day!